One electric vehicle owner shared their monthly charging bill and it's sparked huge debate
While Tesla and BYD currently lead the market, electric vehicles (EVs) are sold to consumers for smoother and cleaner driving, lower maintenance costs and huge savings on fuel.
For many owners, that promise has held up.
But for those without a home charger, the reality can look quite different, and one driver's Reddit post has opened up a much bigger conversation about the true cost of going electric.
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According to British Gas, installing a home charger is not only more 'convenient' but 'also works out quite a bit cheaper in the long run.'
Its website reads: "In fact, charging an electric car at home is less than half the price of using public charging stations – and both are cheaper than filling up with petrol."
A big part of that gap comes down to service fees. Public charging points routinely add them on top of the energy cost, while home charging carries none, making it the more affordable option for everyday use.
Now, one EV driver has shared a breakdown of their charging costs and savings over 31 days. In that time, they consumed a total of 1,599 kWh and spent $551 on charging.
88% of that charging happened at public Supercharger stations, with just 9% done at home. The Tesla app calculated a gas savings of $106 over the period, but with a monthly bill of over $500, many in the comments were quick to point out that the sums didn't quite add up in the driver's favour.
One user recommended a home charger after showing their stats of $1,124 saved in gas over the year, with more than 4,600 kWh of total charge logged.
A second user explained: "I got EV charger together with my solar isntallation [sic] from WRE in Minnesota and while it is an investment, it is fun to charge my vehichle [sic] everyday and not see my utility bill creep up."
Another shared that charging at home over a year had cost them the equivalent of 3,629 kWh and saved them $1,534 in the process.
Others have found ways to save money by combining their home EV charger with a solar installation or with Tesla when the company offered lifetime free Supercharging perks from older referral deals.
Someone else suggested: "Oh my lord I spent that much all of last year with my home charger. Please get one if you can".